![Lily Reese Henley, 10, attends Baker School. [Special to the Bulletin]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-63889f4f-8077-7f26-e053-0100007fa6a4-1ac9ff62.jpeg)
CRESTVIEW — An Okaloosa County gymnast received the top score in the nation in her division last weekend.
Lily Reese Henley, 10, scored a 9.9 for her Level 7 floor routine at the Lady Luck Invitational in Las Vegas on Jan. 14. The competition was hosted by Brown's Gymnastics.
Henley trains at U.S. Gold Gymnastics, which has locations in Crestview and Miramar Beach, and attends Baker School in Baker.
Her score last Sunday was her personal best, said her mother, Courtney Byrd-Henley.
Henley is in the Junior Olympics program at U.S. Gold, currently at level seven out of 10. Most children at level seven are a year or two older, her coach, Kathy Dwyer, said.
"She's a very, very powerful gymnast," Dwyer said. "Like a Simone Biles. She's a great tumbler."
Henley commutes from Baker to the Miramar Beach location, a 45-mile drive, to train for 18 to 20 hours a week, Dwyer said.
"The fact she lives in Baker is astounding," Dwyer said. "It takes a lot of commitment. And a 9.9 is a very high score — it's one-tenth from being perfect."
Henley has trained in gymnastics since kindergarten.
"She started playing around with it when she was four and she joined the competition team when she was five," Byrd-Henley said.
Despite her young age, Henley is already planning for the future.
"Her dream is to be a gymnast at the University of Alabama," Byrd-Henley said.
Dwyer said Henley can go as far in gymnastics as she wants to take it.
"The possibilities are endless for her," Dwyer said.
Henley will compete again this weekend at the Atlanta Sentinel.
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baker gymnast gets top national score